In the manufacture of electronic circuits comprising electrical components on a circuit board, it is common practice to solder components to the board by first mounting the board or boards containing the components on a pallet, and then move the pallet along a conveyor through a wave solder station and then to an inspection station. The pallet has openings corresponding to the board size and shape. Typically the circuit boards are secured to the pallets by slipping one board edge into a groove alongside one side of the opening and hinging the board down so that the opposite side of the board seats at the opposite side of the opening. Spring clips at the opposite side engage the board edge to hold the board firmly to the pallet. In that position the board is held rigidly against lateral movement with respect to the pallet. The spring clips typically require substantial force for board insertion and removal. This can result in undesirable stresses on the circuit board.
After soldering, the pallets move to an inspection station where electrical testers automatically move probes onto the circuit boards to test circuit functions. It is often necessary to slightly shift the board laterally to make correct contact with the probes, but the clips do not allow such movement. As a result, the equipment which attempts such alignment tends to bind. It is therefore desirable to hold the circuit board in the pallet while affording lateral flexibility in positioning the board for circuit tests.